Our Mission and HistoryThe Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) is an influential voice and advocate for entrepreneurs and small business owners. We focus on advancing policies and initiatives that encourage entrepreneurship and small business growth. Our strength and effectiveness are powered by SBE Council members and supporters. When there is something of importance happening in the U.S. or across the globe that affects small business owners and entrepreneurs, SBE Council is there -- we are your voice, your advocate.Small Business & Entrepreneurship CouncilSBEC_21eaa536-dbfa-11e5-a325-0e43b67b6f10SBE Council is a 501 c4 nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy and research organization. Contributions to SBE Council are not tax deductible. Small BusinessesSBEC Advisory BoardAndrew J. ShermanAndrew J. Sherman is a Partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Jones Day, with over 2,700 attorneys worldwide. Mr. Sherman is a recognized international authority on the legal and strategic issues affecting small and growing companies. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University where he has taught courses on business growth, capital formation and entrepreneurship for over twenty-three (23) years and won numerous teaching awards at both schools. Mr. Sherman is the author of twenty-six (26) books on the legal and strategic aspects of business growth and capital formation. Other recent titles include the best-selling Mergers and Acquisitions from A to Z, 3rd edition, published by AMACOM in 2010. His twenty-third book, Harvesting Intangible Assets, Uncover Hidden Revenue in Your Company’s Intellectual Property, (AMACOM) was published in October of 2011. His twenty-fourth book, Raising Capital, 3rd edition was published in the Spring of 2012, his twenty-fifth book, Essays on Governance published in late Spring of 2012. His twenty-sixth book, co-authored with Elizabeth Vazquez, Buying For Impact: How Buying From Women Will Change the World, was published in February of 2013.Barbara WeltmanBarbara Weltman is an attorney, a prolific author with such titles as J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting a Home-Based Business, and Smooth Failing, and a trusted professional advocate for small businesses and entrepreneurs. She is a guest columnist for The Wall Street Journal and U.S. News and World Reports and contributes regularly to American Express OPEN, SBA.gov, and MyVenturePad. She is also the publisher of Idea of the Day® and monthly e-newsletter Big Ideas for Small Business® at BarbaraWeltman.com and co-host of Business Leaders radio. She has been named one of the 100 Small Business Influencers in the nation. Follow her on Twitter @BarbaraWeltman.Brendan KarpBrendan Karp co-founded First Funder, the first partner-based crowdfunding platform, in 2010. He has spoken regularly on the subject of crowdfunding and shared his crowdfunding expertise with business groups and professional associations. His professional experience includes marketing, outside sales, business development, and team management. He is currently working with TechNexus, a national venture collaborative located in Chicago, and enrolled at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He expects to graduate with a Marketing degree in 2015.Leonard SteinbergLeonard Steinberg is the Principal of Steinberg Enterprises, LLC. He is a federally licensed Enrolled Agent (EA) and a Certified Management Consultant (CMC). Mr. Steinberg specializes in small business and nonprofit organizations. The tax practice consists of comprehensive tax services, including preparation, planning and problem resolution and representation services. The organization prepares all types of business and personal tax returns (e.g. Proprietorship, Partnership, S-Corp and C-Corp, Exempt Organizations, Payroll, Sales and Use, Estates, Trusts and Foundations). Mr. Steinberg handles personal, business, nonprofit, estates, trusts, foundations, divorce issues, bankruptcy filings, and tax court preparation. His representation services include advocacy for all federal issues before the Internal Revenue Service and state tax issues. Mr. Steinberg was appointed to the Federal Taxpayer Advocacy Panel from 2001 through 2004. He was Chairman of the Small Business/Self-Employed Subcommittee. Mr. Steinberg is also a member of the Small Business Advisory Committee (SBAC) of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) where he represents SBE Council. Mr. Steinberg has testified at three different invitations before the House of Representatives Committee on Small Business and the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs. He has made business and tax presentations at professional seminars sponsored by the Internal Revenue Service, Paychex, and Jewish Vocational Services to companies and practitioners throughout the metropolitan area. He also lectured nationally for Lorman Education Services in the subject areas of Internal Controls and Fraud Detection and Prevention, Nonprofit Management, and Federal taxation. He has taught Accounting, Bookkeeping, and Internal Controls and Fraud Detection and Prevention at Mercer County Community College.Michael FredrichMichael Fredrich is President and Owner of Manitowoc Custom Moldings, LLC. He has served in this capacity since 2001. MCM Composites is a small manufacturing company, which produces a wide range of precision products from many different raw materials. They specialize in thermoset plastic molding, enabling us to focus our capital and effort on continually improving our thermoset knowledge, expertise and technical capabilities. Fredrich has a diverse background in business and finance with experience in debt restructuring, corporate turnarounds, and commercial banking. He has a BS in Nuclear Engineering, and earned an MBA in Finance from UW-Madison.Todd FlemmingTodd Flemming is President and CEO Advantor Systems/Veristream. As Advantor’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Flemming leads the strategic direction of the company, including all product development, operations and technology activities. Mr. Flemming serves as Chairman of BiPac (Business Industry Political Action Committee), a Washington, D.C., based organization-promoting business and dedicated to preserving the free enterprise system. Mr. Flemming is a member of the executive advisory board of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council. He serves as a member of the board of trustees of Hampden Sydney College in Virginia, and serves as Managing Director of OTIS LLC, a private investment firm. Prior to co-founding Advantor Systems/Veristream, Mr. Flemming served as president and CEO of Advantor Corporation in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Flemming has over twenty years of broad-based management experience in the security industry, including business start-up, design, marketing, strategy, research, development, and manufacturing. He holds dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Economics and Biology from Hampden Sydney College in Virginia and a Masters of Business Administration from Duke University (Fuqua School of Business), Durham, North Carolina.Victoria BradenVictoria Braden is President & CEO of Braden Benefits Strategies. Braden is responsible for the vision and growth of the company, and she is focused on implementing the new ACA regulations at the least cost in order to benefit businesses with less than 300 employees. Braden has worked exclusively in the group health insurance arena since 1994, establishing Braden Benefit Strategies, Inc. in 2002. The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) has recognized Braden for seven years as a top insurance producer in the U.S. and one of the Top 1% of health insurance agents for the last three years. Prior to Braden’s entrance into the benefits arena, she held management positions at Johnson & Johnson’s, McNeil Consumer Products, Borden Foods, and the Pillsbury Company. Using knowledge of the benefit structures at these large corporations has helped Braden Benefit Strategies, Inc. successfully craft competitive plans and cost containment measures for clients. Braden has represented small businesses on Capitol Hill in 2004, testifying before a House committee on “The Benefits of Health Savings Accounts,” and again in 2011, regarding the cost of PPACA implementation to small businesses. Braden Benefit Strategies, Inc. recognizes ACA as a complete transformation of the delivery of health insurance in America. As such, the company has led the way in ACA education, working to correct the rampant misunderstanding of employer requirements, identifying the potential ACA financial liability, providing long-term financial planning and answering employees questions as to how the new law will affect them. Under Braden’s leadership, the company has developed consulting practices for businesses interested in turnkey ACA compliance, ACA financial planning and/or ACA employee education. Braden’s knowledge, reputation, humor, and passion for small business and employee benefit planning has made her a sought-after speaker, commentator, and writer. Braden received her undergraduate degree from Western Illinois University, her CBC from the National Association of Alternative Benefit Consultants (NAABC) and ACA certification from NAHU. She credits her dad for her sales ability, her mom for her high standards and her never give-up attitude, and both parents for her work ethic and dedication to her trade.SBEC Staff.Karen KerriganPresident & CEO --
Karen Kerrigan is leading SBE Council into its 20th year of protecting small business and promoting entrepreneurship.For more than twenty years Karen Kerrigan’s leadership, advocacy and training work has helped foster U.S. entrepreneurship and global small business growth. She is president & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, and is the group's chief advocate for its members.
Kerrigan regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress on the key issues impacting entrepreneurs and the economy, and has been appointed to numerous federal advisory boards including the National Women's Business Council, the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialog, the U.S. Treasury’s Taxpayer Advisory Panel, and the National Advisory Committee for Labor Provisions of U.S. Free Trade Agreements. Kerrigan regularly engages with the President’s cabinet and key advisors, and has participated and in several White House economic summits, scores of events hosted by the Small Business Administration, U.S. Treasury Department and other federal government agencies and departments. She has written hundreds of Op-Eds and newspaper columns, and regularly appears on national television and talk radio programs.
She has been called America’s "entrepreneurial envoy" and "small business ambassador" for her extensive speaking, knowledge sharing and capacity-building work overseas. Kerrigan is a founding member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum, and regularly provides counsel to governments and business associations across the globe regarding entrepreneurial development, capacity building and policy formation and implementation. Kerrigan is a board member and former chair of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), one of the core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy, which works to strengthen democracy around the globe through private enterprise and market oriented reforms.
"The hardest working woman in show business," The Hill
In 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 she was named a Top 100 Champion Small Business Influencer by Small Business Trends. CEO World Magazine named Kerrigan a "Top Power Woman in Crowdfunding" (November 2013.) In November of 2009 she was presented with the "Small Business Advocate of the Year" award by the NY Enterprise Report. Among other accolades, Inc. Magazine named Kerrigan to its small business "Best Friends in D.C." (2006) list as a "power broker and activist" with “serious clout” for entrepreneurs; Fortune Small Business to its "Power 30" list (2000); and The Hill newspaper to its “most influential small business” list (2006) describing Kerrigan as “the hardest working woman in show business.” In 1995, National Journal named Kerrigan to its short list of "K Street" activists most likely to have an impact on Capitol Hill. Campaigns and Elections Magazine named her as one of its “Rising Stars in Politics” in its April 1996 issue.
Kerrigan graduated from SUNY Cortland with a B.A. in Political Science, and resides in Northern Virginia.Raymond J. KeatingChief Economist --
Raymond J. Keating serves as chief economist with the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council). He writes, speaks and testifies before Congress on a wide range of issues affecting the entrepreneurial sector of the economy. Keating publishes SBE Council’s "Small Business Survival Index," the "Business Tax Index" and other state rankings that measure the impact of policies on energy and health coverage affordability for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
In addition to policy papers and reports, he pens the weekly SBE Council Cybercolumn, Fact of the Week, Capital & Credit Watch, Technology & Entrepreneurs analysis, and Energy & Entrepreneurs brief for SBE Council.
Keating also writes a weekly column for Long Island Business News and The Dolan Company. Previously, for more than 11 years, he wrote a column for Newsday on Long Island.
In addition, Keating is an adjunct professor/lecturer in the business school at Dowling College.
Keating has written six books -- "Chuck" vs. the Business World: Business Tips on TV (2011), Root of All Evil? A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel (2012), Warrior Monk: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel (2010), U.S. by the Numbers: What’s Left, Right, and Wrong with America State by State (2000), New York by the Numbers: State and City in Perpetual Crisis (1997), and D.C. by the Numbers: A State of Failure (1995). He has contributed essays to four other books.
Keating has written hundreds of articles, with pieces published in such periodicals as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Boston Globe, National Review, Investor's Business Daily, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Times, New York Post, Daily News, and many more. He also is a contributing editor to FEE’s free-market magazine The Freeman.
His areas of expertise include taxation; federal, state and city budget issues; monetary policy; regulation; energy policy; supply-side economics; the economics of sports stadiums and arenas; the U.S. economy; trade; and a host of other small-business issues.
Keating holds an MA in economics from New York University, an MBA in banking and finance from Hofstra University, and a BS in business administration and economics from St. Joseph’s College.Susan SolovicMedia Director --
Susan Wilson Solovic joined SBE Council as Media Director in February 2015. She is an award-winning serial entrepreneur, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Amazon.com top 100 and USA Today bestselling author, media personality, sought-after keynote speaker, and attorney. Solovic's experience and knowledge have made her an ideal communicator in helping the media and its audiences understand the challenges, opportunities and general state of the small business and entrepreneurial sector.
An Internet pioneer, Solovic was the CEO and co-founder of SBTV.com -- small business television -- a company she grew from it's infancy to a million dollar plus entity. In 2006, she accepted the Stevie Award (the Oscar’s of business) on behalf of SBTV for the Most Innovative Company under 100 employees; that same year the company was voted the Best Investment Opportunity at a Venture Forum in the Silicon Valley. Solovic received the Institute for Women's Entrepreneurship Leader of Distinction Award, and she was the first recipient of AT&T's Innovator of the Year Award for being a pioneer in a new industry.
Formerly, Solovic was a small business contributor for ABC News and the host of the syndicated radio program, It's Your Biz. She appears regularly as a small business expert on Fox Business, Fox News, The Wall Street Journal's "Lunch Break", MSNBC, CNN, CNBC and many other stations across the country. She hosted her own PBS special called Reinvent Yourself Now: Become Self-Reliant in an Unpredictable World. In addition to television and radio appearances, Solovic is a featured blogger on numerous sites, including Constant Contact, WSJ.com,, Huffington Post and FoxBusiness.com.
Solovic was recently named in the Top 10 of both SAP's "Top 51 Potential Human Influencers" and Twitter’s "Top 100 Small Business Experts to Follow." She has written four bestselling books which have been translated into multiple languages. Solovic is a member of the Advisory Board for the John Cook School of Entrepreneurship at Saint Louis University. She served on the National Women's Business Council, which counsels the President, Congress, and the SBA on issues affecting women business owners. She is a past member of the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard University, and she has been an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship in the MBA program at Saint Louis University.
Solovic started her career as a news anchor and reporter. Her corporate career took her to the C-Suite level of a Fortune 100 company becoming the first female executive in the company’s financial services division. She obtained a law degree from Saint Louis University and is Of Counsel with the firm Junge & Mele, LLP in New York City.Brian McManusGovernment Affairs Counsel --
Brian McManus is a public policy and public affairs entrepreneur, advocate, analyst, and coalition builder with more than 22 years of experience operating at the highest levels of the private and public sector in the country.
Mr. McManus began his career with Golden Rule Insurance Company, which pioneered and led the legislative effort to enact Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). During his career with Golden Rule, Mr. McManus worked with members of Congress on consumer-friendly health care initiatives, including allowing people to buy health insurance across state lines, high-risk pools for people who could not qualify for individual health insurance, and allowing people who buy their own insurance to buy it tax free.
Mr. McManus began his public service career by serving under the leadership of two Chairmen of the House Republican Conference, Rep. Mike Pence (now Governor Mike Pence) and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (chairman of the House Financial Services Committee currently).
Additionally, Mr. McManus served as director of the State of Florida's Washington, D.C., office for Gov. Rick Scott. During that time, Mr. McManus served as the chief advocate for all federal public policy issues, legislation, and regulations affecting the state of Florida, its state agencies, and Governor Scott. Mr. McManus marketed the state's economic improvement to the political community in Washington, DC. While directing the state's office in Washington, DC, Mr. McManus saved an estimated $500,000 for Florida taxpayers by reducing office staff, eliminating excess overhead, and streamlining the operations and functions of the office.
Mr. McManus's public policy commentary has appeared in national media outlets, such as CNBC, TIME, and USA Today, and local and national radio stations, and he has served as a source for national and local reporters.
Mr. McManus currently runs his own consulting firm to help clients develop and expand their business and meet their public policy, public affairs, and coalition goals._21eaa7ac-dbfa-11e5-a325-0e43b67b6f10To protect small business and promote entrepreneurship._21eaa91e-dbfa-11e5-a325-0e43b67b6f10EntrepreneurshipSmall BusinessGrowthAdvocacyLead legislative and educational campaigns for entrepreneurs._21eaaa40-dbfa-11e5-a325-0e43b67b6f101EntrepreneursFor 23 years, SBE Council members and staff have led some of the most successful and important legislative and educational campaigns for entrepreneurs. For example, and most recently, our members designed the framework for legislation that allows entrepreneurs to use equity and debt-based crowdfunding to access capital for their businesses. Our effective outreach and advocacy campaign stunned partisan Washington, and culminated in the signing of the Jumpstart Our Business Start-Up Act (JOBS Act) by President Obama on April 5, 2012. Key components of the Jobs Act are revolutionizing how entrepreneurs access capital -- not only in the U.S., but across the globe.
SBE Council is at the center of every major tax and regulatory fight and reform opportunity that impacts small business. A multi-year effort by our staff and members zeroed in on making expanded Section 179 expensing and the R&D tax credit permanent, which led to these important provisions being included in the omnibus spending bill signed by President Obama in December of 2015. SBE Council provides leadership and a much needed voice for entrepreneurs on policies such as trade, technology, intellectual property (IP), telecommunications, energy, government procurement, finance, spending and fiscal issues, health care and much more. SBE Council's policy knowledge and advocacy experience is respected and unmatched._21eaab76-dbfa-11e5-a325-0e43b67b6f10Educational ResourcesConduct training programs and collaborative projects to help small business owners and entrepreneurs compete in the competitive global economy._21eaac98-dbfa-11e5-a325-0e43b67b6f102Small Business OwnersEntrepreneursCongressGovernment AgenciesState LegislaturesSBE Council conducts training programs and collaborative projects to help small business owners and entrepreneurs compete in the competitive global economy. Our Growth Without Barriers series provides cutting-edge “how to” content, and updates our members on the latest legislation and policies working their way through Congress, government agencies, or the state legislatures. SBE Council experts and staff produce first-class “how to” content on timely business issues. We report on trends, economic data and policy actions and how they may impact U.S. entrepreneurs. SBE Council's weekly enews provides links to free or low-cost training events and webinars on issues ranging from finance to emerging market trends, to effective online tools and marketing strategies for small business. The weekly newsletter is packed with the best articles and content from across the web, which focuses on providing entrepreneurs with practical, actionable advice and successful strategies for growth._21eaada6-dbfa-11e5-a325-0e43b67b6f10ResearchEducate lawmakers, policy leaders, media, coalition partners, and the public about the vital role entrepreneurs play in all sectors of the economy, job creation, innovation and economic growth._21eaaee6-dbfa-11e5-a325-0e43b67b6f103LawmakersPolicy LeadersMediaThe PublicEntrepreneursSBE Council is respected for its research, studies and reports covering a wide range of issues. The "Small Business Policy Index," "Business Tax Index" and other state policy indexes are widely reported on by the media, and provide state lawmakers and Governors with tools to measure the policy competitiveness of their states and how they stack up against their counterparts. SBE Council produces regular "Entrepreneurs & the Economy" surveys that track small business sentiment on key policy and economic issues. SBE Council's research in the areas of technology, monetary policy, taxes, regulation, energy, small business financing and more are used to support our advocacy efforts. This research and analyses is used to educate lawmakers, policy leaders, media, coalition partners, and the public about the vital role entrepreneurs play in all sectors of the economy, job creation, innovation and economic growth. SBE Council's research is key to helping us advance policies and initiatives that encourage start-up activity and small business growth._21eab008-dbfa-11e5-a325-0e43b67b6f10http://sbecouncil.org/about-us/mission/OwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net